Poland joins U.S., other dissenters to U.N.’s proposed migration pact

Poland on Tuesday joined the U.S. and a number of central and Eastern European countries in announcing plans to snub an ambitious United Nations compact to regulate worldwide migration.

Last December, the Trump administration stood alone in refusing to endorse out of the compact, stating that numerous provisions were “inconsistent with U.S. immigration and refugee policies” under President Trump.

The move positioned Mr. Trump at the forefront of a raging debate between countries arguing for greater national sovereignty and local control over their borders against pro-immigration globalists.

On Tuesday, after a meeting of the Polish Cabinet, Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party cited national sovereignty issues as a major concern in its decision to withdraw its support the “Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration,” which was approved in July by all 193 U.N. nations except the U.S.

Billed as the first comprehensive effort by the U.N. to set nonbinding measures on a common approach to migration issues such as asylum and repatriation, the pact is due to be formally approved at a Dec. 10-11 meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco.

But recent weeks have seen Hungary, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria reject the pact, with Austria and Slovakia also indicting they will not adopt it. All have right-wing, immigration-skeptic parties in their governing coalitions.

Observers have seen the about-face from these countries as a sign of growing resistance against European Union officials in Brussels to be more liberal in allowing in refugees fleeing Syria, Libya and other global trouble spots.

Since taking office in 2015, Poland’s ruling party has voiced strong anti-migrant rhetoric as the nation of almost 38 million wrestles with an estimated 1 million Ukrainian migrants.